1. What qualities does an effective project manager possess? What two qualities do you feel are the most important? Explain why.

Your response should be at least 200 words in length.

2. As a project manager, why is it important to build a relationship before you actually need it? Provide an example of a time you have decided to build a relationship before you needed it.

Your response should be at least 200 words in length.

Unit Lesson

Project management, on one hand, is a series of interrelated steps that can be taught to anyone willing to learn. However, on the other hand, project management is an art that requires finesse and interpersonal skills to be a truly skilled project manager. Knowing when to use which technique and doing so effectively is what sets experienced, successful project managers apart from inexperienced ones.

In some fields, organization leaders can achieve their position through passing tests and earning advanced degrees with little experience in the field. It is not unusual for these types of leaders to encounter resistance. The project team may feel that the leader has not earned the right to be in charge and that he or she does not understand the environment the project is supposed to function in. The resistance may be openly stated or may be under the surface, where the project team appears to be working toward project goals, but are not making measurable project progress.

Experienced, successful project managers know that these types of situations require motivation, communication, conflict management, and political and cultural awareness to gain the support of the project team and move the project forward. By acknowledging team reservations, experienced project managers create a relationship of trust and respect by being willing to take criticism and validating that the teams opinions are important. Beginning project managers, unaware of the unstated resistance, may spend excessive amounts of time reviewing various management plans, network diagrams, or performance assessments in an attempt to find the error causing the lack of progress. In these types of organizations, in which leaders do not have to come up through the ranks, beginning project managers can also fail by trying to unilaterally make decisions for the project and the project team because they are in a position of higher authority. The military is an example of this type of situation. Officers are placed in command through completion of a college degree and training school. Many have never been a regular soldier and do not understand what enlisted personnel do as part of the team. When special projects arise, experienced officers will show trust in their enlisted staff, their project team, and solicit their opinions, feedback, and suggestions before determining a course of action. New officers will often make decisions with wide-ranging effects without input from their enlisted staff. Making unilateral decisions without asking for the input of the people who do the work can cause them to feel disrespected or distrusted and can potentially lower team morale.

Construction traditionally operates on an apprentice system, in which a beginning tradesperson trains with an experienced one until he or she becomes a master in the field. A tradesperson who wants to move into a management position trains with experienced construction managers, also usually master tradespeople, until gaining enough experience to be a manager on his or her own. As universities created degree programs in construction management, a college degree became enough to earn a management position with little or no trade experience. The experienced project manager would ask the opinion of the project team, empower and

UNIT V STUDY GUIDE Leadership and Teams

UNIT x STUDY GUIDE Title encourage them to make decisions, and share leadership with them to increase their motivation to succeed. Inexperienced, beginning project managerslike beginning military officersoften inform instead of ask, do not communicate well, and do not share decision-making or leadership responsibility.

A Closer Look

In many cases, one becomes a project manager by accident. For instance, the individual is hired as a budget coordinator for a particular company. After a few months on the job, however, the manager assigns him or her to a project. A few months later, another project is added to the workload. As one can imagine, this additional work creates stress, and may lead to the person leaving the organization altogether.

To grow within an organization, one should be open to working on projects. Why? When on a project, the employee has a chance to learn more about operations outside of his or her department. In other words, he or she is able to gain a holistic perspective of company operations.

Jack Welch, ex-CEO of General Electric (GE), stated that his growth at GE was directly related to taking on assignments anywhere the company operated, including globally. He felt that learning how other divisions of GE worked provided him a competitive advantage. When in the running for the top leadership position, he accentuated the vast experience he accumulated over the years, and it was tough to argue his perspective. Welch served as CEO of General Electric from 1981 to 2001, and the companys value grew 4,000% during his tenure (Miller, 2012).

By having a big picture perspective, one understands the importance of cause-and-effect. For example, if Marketing launches a new campaign, it is obvious that other departments will be affected, such as Accounting, Finance, IT, and Operations. The project manager must ensure stakeholders from all affected departments are part of the planning group. By taking this proactive role, negative risks are controlled, and positive risks are exploited.

Jack Welch knew that success depended on seeing how all the parts come together, and how one part can cause too much strain on the entire operation. Similarly, project managers must avoid thinking in silos. The leadership aspect requires that key stakeholders from the various departments play integral roles in the project endeavor